


Ranch Daze

by Mabk0211



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2014-06-27
Packaged: 2017-12-28 20:33:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/996339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mabk0211/pseuds/Mabk0211
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is tired of working for the Ad Agency in Los Angles.  Quitting his job, leaving behind his family and friends he moves to a small town in Texas where he takes a job at a horse ranch.  Now he must come to terms with his new found home, sexuality and the man who is showing him that being himself is okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

Dean Winchester walked through the large glass front doors of the Fortitude Ad Agency.  He was dressed in khaki pants and a dark blue button down shirt.  It was Monday morning and he was dreading the fact that he had five days ahead of him of early mornings, coffee, and people telling him what they want and how they want it.  He used to love his job.  Loved walking through the doors and smiling at everyone he passed, loved making people happy by helping them.  Now, now he felt like he was in a rut and would be for his entire life.

“Hello Mr. Winchester.  I have your plans and schedules for the day here.”  His secretary told him as she handed him a coffee and a folder full of papers.

“Thank you Josie.  Any calls?” He said in a flat tone.

“No sir.” She stopped once they reached his desk.  When she was sure things were good she left.

Dean sat at his desk and looked around his office before working.  His email came up with work emails, emails from his father and brother. 

“Mr. Winchester, Mr. Browne is here to see you.”

“Send him in.”  _Just what I want to deal with this morning.  My boss._ He thought to himself as he straightened up his desk.  He stood up when his boss walked through the door.  “Mr. Browne, what can I do for you this morning?” he questioned shaking hands and offering a seat across from him.

Mr. Browne nodded and seated himself. “I just wanted to check in, I have a few new clients I would like you to work on.  They are important people so I don’t want just anyone on them.”

_More VIP clients, wonderful._ “No problem sir.” He took the folder that was handed to him and scanned through it.  “I will make sure that they are well taken care of.”  _That line is getting old._

“Thank you.  Will you be joining us this Friday evening at the St. Clare?”

“I’m sorry sir, I will actually be having dinner with family.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.  Maybe next time then.  Is everything else going good?  Do we need to up your client list?” He smiled.

Dean forced a smile, “Thank you, but I think I’m good for right now.”

“Alright then, I will see you in a week.” He said standing up and heading to the door.

“A week?”

“Yes.  I need those ads in a week for all the clients.”

_Fucking awesome._ “Yes sir.”  He waited until his boss left and he knew he would already be down the hall. “Josie!” He yelled.

Josie came running into the office.  “Yes Mr. Winchester?”

“Cancel all my meetings for the week.”

“But…”

“Just cancel all my meetings.”  Dean grabbed his keys and phone and walked out of the office.  His mind was drawing a blank, he just kept walking.  Down the stairs, and back out through the huge glass doors to the busy street in Los Angles.  The sun was hot and bright hitting his face.  He shaded his eyes and headed for the parking lot.  As he rounded the corner he scanned the parking lot for his car.  There she was.  His black 1967 Chevy Impala.  She was so alone.  All the surrounding cars were brand new Lexus’s, or BMW’s.  Not his though.  He had had baby since his father gave her to him for his 18th birthday.  Dean climbed into the front seat, started the engine, smiling at the sound, and pulling away from work. 

“Don’t think about it Dean.  Just keep driving.”  And he did.  He drove home where he just wanted to throw everything out the window.  Instead he grabbed a suitcase, filled it with non-work clothes, a few necessary things like bathroom supplies, his laptop and a phone charger.  He shut off the lights, locked the door and left once again.  This time he headed east out of Los Angles.

 

The clock read 2:50 AM when Dean finally pulled into a motel in Artesia, New Mexico.  Even though he wanted to keep driving he was exhausted.  He parked in front of the sign that said open.  The place didn’t look all that great, but it didn’t look horrible either. 

“Hello, what can I do for you?” The woman behind the counter asked.  She looked about late twenty’s, and very friendly. 

“Just need a room.  Do you accept cash?”

“Yes we do.  That will be forty-nine, eighty nine. please.”

Dean nodded and handed her a fifty dollar bill. 

“Room six.  Enjoy your stay, if you need anything, just dial star and then one.”

He took the key, grabbed his suitcase from the car and entered his room.  It was small.  One queen size bed, tv, and a small table with two seats in the corner.

Dean sat on the edge of the bed and actually looked at his phone for the first time since he left Los Angles. 

Ten Missed Calls.

He scrolled through the list seeing who called him.  Work, work, clients, boss, best friend.  Without calling anyone back, he plugged the phone in to charge, shut off the lights and drifted off to sleep. 

 

Dean didn’t wake until almost ten the next morning.  It was the latest he’s slept in, in the past three years.  Realizing he only had an hour before he had to be checked out he quickly showered, dressed and packed. 

By 11:12 he was in the car and driving to the nearest place to grab something to eat.  He pulled into the first diner he saw.  Now that he walked into a room full of food he noticed just how hungry he was.  He took a seat in the first available stool and picked up a menu.  Everything sounded good.  It had been so long since he ate at a small diner.

“What can I get for you sir?” the waitress asked from behind the counter.

Dean looked up and smiled at her.  “Waffles please.  And coffee.”

“Coming right up.” She pulled out a coffee cup and poured coffee into setting it in front of him. 

He looked down at his vibrating phone and noticed it was coming from his office.  _It’s probably Josie, wondering why I haven’t been there all morning._  He thought to himself.  He didn’t answer but instead took in the surroundings of the diner while waiting for his food.

 

When Dean finally stopped driving again he was in Brownwood, Texas.  It had only been about six hours from his first stop at the motel, but all the driving was making him restless.  He pulled into another tiny motel, paid in cash and went to his room keeping to himself the entire time. 

_Guess I’ll spend a day or so here until I feel like driving again._  He said to himself as he grabbed the remote and laid back to watch television. 

 

Dean woke the next morning early.  He had fallen asleep with the remote on his chest and the television still on the news.  He took his time showering and dressing before heading out for a bit.  _If I’m going to be spending a few days here, I might as well check out the sites._ He thought as he drove to the café down the road. 

When he walked in he realized it was probably more of a local place.  Everyone seemed to know everyone and they were all talking across tables.

“Can I get you a menu and a table?” The hostess asked Dean.

“Uh, a menu, I’m going to take it to go.”

She handed him a small menu, “Just holler when you are ready to order.” She walked off to tend to her customers.

He scanned through the menu and settled on the breakfast special that included eggs, meat, toast and some pancakes.  He ordered his food and coffee to go. 

“Can I get you anything else?” the hostess asked handing Dean his coffee and food.

“No ma’am, but thank you.”  He spun around and nearly knocked someone down.  “Oh man! I’m so sorry; I never look where I’m going.” Dean told the man. 

The man checked himself over to make sure he wasn’t covered in food or coffee.  The man was dressed in jeans, cowboy boots, a white t-shirt.  “No harm done to me.  Is your food still good?”

Dean looked at the man for the first time since he nearly ran him down.  He had blue eyes, perfect skin.

“No…” Dean shook his head.  “Yes, it’s fine.  Sorry again for almost knocking you down.”

“It’s fine, really.  Have a good day.”  He smiled walking past him to the counter.  He didn’t want to take his eyes off of the mouth dropping stranger who invading his small town.  If he wasn’t on a time limit he would have asked him to eat breakfast with him. 

“Who was that guy that was just here Linda?”

“No idea, Cas.  Never seen him before.  Why you got the hots for him already?” She asked laughing.

“Ha, ha.  Not but he does look good, doesn’t he?”

“He’s probably straight.  In that case, he’s mine.”

Dean walked out the door back to his car.  His mind still on the man he just encountered.  _I’m going to hell. Plain and simple.  I’m thinking about how nice looking another guy looks.  Really._

He walked back into his room and sat down to eat.  Just as he took his first bite his phone rang. 

“Hello Dad.” He said answering the phone the smiling fading from his face.

 


	2. Chapter Two

“You aren’t at work.  I came to have lunch with you and that girl told me you left yesterday morning and haven’t been back.  Are you sick?”

“No dad, uh, I can’t really explain right now.  I’ll call you in a few days.”

“Dean, don’t you dare hang up on me.  I demand to know what the hell is going on.”

Dean thought for a second on if he should hang up or not.  He took the phone away from his ear and hit the end button.  “Alright, one down, few more to go.” He knew he would get phone calls, and with each one he’ll answer, tell them he’ll explain later and hang up.  At least they will know he’s still alive.

 

 

 

“Cas, look alive man!” one of his workers said to him.

“Sorry a bit distracted today.” He replied still thinking about the no name stranger he had run into.  _Literally._

“Boyfriend troubles?”

Cas smiled.  “Something like that.  Some out-of-towner came into the café today.  Nearly knocked me off my feet.  Like he actually ran into me on his way out.  Anyways, said stranger was…well you know.”  Cas was in his early 30’s.

The man laughed, “Yeah, yeah.”

Another man who looked to be just a teenager came up to the men, “Mr. Novak, the boss wants to see you.”

Cas nodded to the two guys, “Take over for me will you George?” He said to the teenager.  He walked away to the main building.  The main room was a break room type.  Refrigerator, microwave, table’s chairs.  Everything needed for the workers. 

“Ah, Cas, glad you are here.  How are operations?” A man who looked older probably in his late 50’s early 60’s. 

“Going as planned sir, although it would be helpful to have another worker out there.  With the race season approaching and me going between places, it’s hard for the men to pick up the extra slack.”

“Sounds good, after all you are the manager.  I’ll do some interviews this week and hire someone, unless you want to do it.”

“No that’s fine; I’m over at Cedar Ridge anyways this week.  I would rather the interviewers come here.”

“Alright, well let’s go in and discuss some transportation, race care, all that jazz.  Since races are approaching fast, we need to have everything worked out.”

Cas nodded and followed his boss to a room with one large table and about twelve chairs surrounding it. 

“Now the race horses will all be kept at Cedar Ridge during the race season, so next week we will need to do some shuffling of the horses between here and there to get everyone straight.”

“Sounds good.”

The two continued to talk and make plans. 

 

 

Dean walked through town later that afternoon.  He was enjoying the fresh air, barely any traffic and not everyone was attached to a cell phone.  Smiling, he stopped to take a look around again.  He headed to the café where just that morning he got breakfast and ran into the mystery man.   _Maybe I’ll see him again._  He thought to himself.  Shaking his head he rounded the corner and walked into the café.

It was slower than this morning so he went up to the counter and ordered himself a club sandwich for here. 

 

                                               **HELP WANTED**

**Silver Lake Equestrian Center is looking for**

**a hard worker for two locations.**

**No experience needed.  Please contact**

**Josh Phillips at (325) 457-2997.**

Dean stared at the paper for what felt like eternity before he picked up his cell and dialed the number.  He nodded to the waitress that he would be right back and walked out the door.

“Josh Phillips, how can I help you?”

“Hello, Mr. Phillips.  I’m calling about your help wanted sign in the café.” He said into the phone. His stomached turned.   _What the hell am I doing?_

“Yes, I’m doing interviews this week, need a ranch hand for our Equestrian Center and our Stables.  Could you come by tomorrow for an interview?”

“Yes sir.”

“Alright son, see you at noon tomorrow at the Equestrian Center.  Just walk into the main building and ask for me.”  He explained.

“See you then.”  He heard the line go dead.   _I must be completely out of my mind._ He thought to himself while he went back in to eat.

 

 

 

Cas walked into work the next morning, breakfast in hand from the café.  He was looking for the stranger but he wasn’t there.

“Cas, I thought you were going to Cedar Ridge today?”

“Yeah I was but I’ve put it off for a day.  They aren’t ready over there yet.  Anything specific you need done here?”

“Not really just the normal.  I have an interview today.  Only person that has called so far.”

“Well if the person seems good we should jump on it.  Better to have someone sooner rather than later.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

Cas walked back out into the warm air.  It was early so it wasn’t hot yet.  He headed to the stables where most of his crew was already gathering they were all laughing and making noise.

“Alright men, settle down.  I know I’m good looking and all…” he smiled as he stood in front of them.

“What’s up boss?” one of the men said to Cas.

“I’ve separated you guys into two teams.  Team A is going with me tomorrow to Cedar Ridge.  Team B will stay here and hold down home base.  Listen team B, I really need you to stand up.  You’ll have a few guys over here from the stables and they don’t know the daily schedules so please help them out.  As for today, normal schedule, let’s get on it.”  He watched his men walk away and start working.  He had a not so busy day ahead of him so he figured he would just over see the men most of the day.

 

 

Dean showed up about ten minutes prior to his interview time.  He was always early to everything.  He pulled up to the main building and looked around.  It seemed like there were about six more buildings, and training circles for horses.  He walked through the double doors.  They weren’t as big as the glass ones in New York and these were wooden.  Dean smiled in relief.  _One good change._ He scanned the room until he saw a girl sitting at a desk near the back of the room.  He headed to her notices that she must been the receptionist.  She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt.  _Guess they don’t dress up out here, ever._  

“Hello, I’m here for an interview with Josh Phillips.” Dean told her.

“Yes.  Just take a seat.  Coffee is over there.” She pointed toward the kitchenette looking area.  “Josh will be with you in a minute.”

Dean nodded and walked around the room.  It had a high celling, light colors, plenty of windows.  Dean turned around just in time to see a man walking toward him.

“Hello, I’m Josh, and you are?”

“Dean Winchester.”

“Well Mr. Winchester, shall we head back?”  He asked leading the way down the long hallway.

 

Cas walked into the main building and headed back to Lisa the receptionist.  “Is Josh here still or did he head to lunch?”

“He’s in an interview right now.”

Cas turned to leave when he heard Josh’s voice come down the hallway.  He spun around waiting for him.

“Dean, I’m glad you are able to be part of our team here.” They both emerged from the hallway into the large room. 

Dean froze when he saw the mystery man from the café standing there.

Cas felt like his heart would leap out of his chest.  There he was standing in front of him.  The stranger from the other day.  He looked even better today than he did they day before.

“Ah, Cas.  Glad you showed up.  Meet Dean, your newest team player!” He smiled not knowing about the attraction brewing between the two men.

Cas stood there in silence for about thirty seconds before he snapped himself out of his daze.  “Dean, nice to meet you, I’m Cas Novak.  Glad to have you here.” He smiled.

Dean couldn’t help but smile back.  “Thank you Mr. Novak.”

“Please call me Cas.”


	3. Chapter Three

“Alright.” Dean responded.

“Can you start today Dean?” Cas asked him, not breaking eye contact with him.

“Cas, give the man a break…”

“No it’s okay, I can start today.  I’m eager to get started.” He said finally breaking the eye contact between himself and Cas.

“Follow me, I’ll give you a tour of the grounds and then explain the next few weeks will be like.”

Dean waved bye to Josh and followed Cas outside.  The heat seemed to be about ten degrees hotter than it was when Dean went in for the interview.

“So you are the manager here?” Dean asked following Cas down the dirt walkway.

“Yeah, I’ve been working here since I was sixteen.  When I turned twenty-one, Josh gave me the chance to become a manager.  I’ve been the manager ever since.  So Dean, tell me, what brought you to Brownwood?”

Dean thought for a minute.  He didn’t really have a reason or answer on why he was here.  He just ended up here.  “I was actually passing through.  It just seemed like a nice small town.  So I decided I would stay for a while.” He shrugged.

“Well that’s good.” Cas smiled and opened the door to the barn.

“Wow.” Dean admired as they walked into.  There were about twelve or so horse pens.

“Yeah it’s a lot.  We usually just keep the race horses, show horses and a few high paying client horses in here.  We have another barn on site that has a few horses and we have another ranch that also holds horses.”

Dean nodded as he listened to Cas talk.  His voice was very soothing to him.

“So I assume Josh went through the basics on what you’ll be doing?”

“Yes he did.”

“Good, well I’m taking part of the team over to Cedar Ridge tomorrow.  We’ll be moving the horses from there over here, and the race horses over there.  Their practice track is newer and this way we are a bit closer to the track as well.”

“Oh okay, so will I be staying here?” He hoped not, he wanted to be around Cas more.

“No, no.  You’ll come with me.  This way I can teach you on how we do things.  That is if you plan on staying around longer than just a few races.”

“Well I’m trying to take things one day at a time.” He smiled a bit.

“Follow me I’ll keep showing you around.  We need to get the horses here prepared to depart tomorrow.  Trying to make this all in one trip.”

“How far away is Cedar Ridge?”

“About an hour.”

 

Cas showed Dean around the rest of the grounds it took a good hour to get through each building and training area.

“So I’m guessing you didn’t bring lunch with you?” Cas laughed.

Dean smiled and laughed, “No, I didn’t think I would be starting today.”

“No worries, you can ride with me into town.  I have to pick up lunch for myself and the guys.  What do you want?  I’ll put it in with our order at the café.”

Dean recited what he had for lunch the other day and watched Cas talk on the phone.  _This is completely insane.  I’m insane._ He thought.  His stomached turned.  He actually started to _feel_ something for Cas.  All he wanted to do was be around him, to talk to him and to learn more about him.  _Take it easy Dean, it’s a new start.  This may just be where you are meant to end up._

Cas finished ordering.  “Want to go with me to pick up the food?”

“Sure.”

 

The ride there was mostly silent; they exchanged a few sentences here and there.  At the café Dean noticed the hostess smiling and winking at him and Cas.  He really wanted to ask her if she was alright, but opted to just keep his mouth shut. 

“So what was your life like before Brownwood?” Cas asked.

“Pretty boring.  Up early…” he smiled, “Well not as early as you guys here, but I had a pretty cookie cutter job.  You know nine to five.  Lived alone.”  _Good job Dean, make yourself look desperate._

“Oh?  What type of job did you do?”

“I worked for an ad agency.”  He didn’t really want to go into details about his job.  He liked it but to someone else who wasn’t into the advertising profession, it seemed boring. 

“Oh that sounds like a suit and tie kind of job.”

Dean laughed at the tone in Cas’s voice.  “Yeah, yeah it was.  Although most days I didn’t need to wear a suit and tie, just nice clothes.  Anyways, so I guess you really love your job here?”

Cas looked over at Dean like he was trying to figure him out.  “Yes.  At first no.  I hated cleaning stalls, and cleaning horses, but after a few years, I realized that it wasn’t so bad and that if I made it fun, it would be.  So now here I am, teaching that to the younger guys.”

Dean nodded, “I like the quiet here.  It’s nice.”

“Nothing like that big city life, huh?”

“Nope.  So is there a motel close to this Cedar Ridge place?  I don’t really want to be driving an hour each way.”

“Yeah there is, but there are cabins that the workers can stay in.  They are about a three minute drive.  They are actually still on the grounds of Cedar Ridge, just located back in the woods.”

“Oh, well that works too.” The arrived back at the equestrian center.  Cas handed lunch out to his guys.  “Just sit where ever you want.” Cas told Dean.

 

Dean walked over to a table that was close to the window and sat down.  Before he could eve get a bite of food his phone rang.  _Sammy._ His little brother was calling him.  Dean quickly got up and walked outside. 

“Dean.”  Sam said on the other line.  He sounded upset.

“Hey Sam.  How are things?”

“How are things?  Dean.  Dad has been calling me for the past few days, what the hell is going on man?”

“Sam, I just need some time.”

“Time for what?”

“I just need some time to figure things out.  Look, I’m going to text you where I’m staying, it’s for you ONLY Sam.  I trust that you won’t go giving it to dad or anyone else.”

“Alright, well what can I tell dad or anyone else?”

“That I’m fine and I just need some time away from LA.”

Sam sighed into the phone, “Okay, just call if you need anything.”

“Will do little brother.” Dean hung up and walked back inside.  When he went to sit down he noticed Cas staring at him from the other side of the room. 

Cas walked over and sat across from Dean.  “Is everything alright?  You look kind of upset.”

Dean nodded.  “Yes, I was just talking to my brother.  Not really upset, just stressed.”

“Oh, is he older or younger?”

“Younger, but not by that much.  Do you have siblings?”

“Yes, an older brother, two older sisters and a younger brother.”

“Wow, five of you, that’s a pretty big family, are you close?”

“With my siblings, yes, with my mother, no.  What about you?”

Dean felt a ping in his chest.  His mother was dead.  He cleared his throat, “Yeah my brother and I are really close.  My father and I are somewhat close, but not as close as we used to be.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.  Does your family live in Los Angles?”

“Yeah, well my father lives about an hour away, he’s not big on all the city driving and all.”

Cas nodded. 

 

The next few days went by in a blur for Dean.  He packed up his room at the motel, loaded up his car and followed the crew up to Cedar Ridge.  The first thing they did when they arrived was unload the horses and get them settled into the stables.  There was a house right next to the stables.  That evening they were able to go to the cabins where the crew would be staying. 

 

The following day was the last day before one of the races.  All of this was new to Dean so he tried to help when he could but sometimes he just stood back and let others handle things.

Dean was off cleaning one of the horses.  There was something calming and a bit relaxing about cleaning off horses.  It was nice to be outside so much and not stuck in some stuffy office during the days. 

Dean turned and looked around the stables.  The grounds were beautiful, it was bright and the sun hit the ground just perfectly in some spots.  He smiled as he took in the scenery.  The horse he was washing backed up knocking into Dean.  There was no place but the ground for Dean to catch himself, but even that wasn’t good.  He hit the ground hard.  After the initial second of pain went away Dean gathered himself quickly and stood up.  He was covered in mud.  _Wonderful._  He thought to himself. 

Cas watched the entire ordeal from a distance, he smiled at the sight of Dean covered in mud.  He took a minute before walking up to Dean.  “I see the horse got the best of you?” He said trying to not laugh.

“Yeah, he did.” Dean smiled a bit.

“Come with me, you can clean up here instead of having to go all the way back to the cabins.”

Dean nodded and followed Cas to the main house that wasn’t far away.

“Wow.” Dean managed to get out when they walked in.  It had a rustic look, beautiful furniture.  It was almost out of a magazine.

“Yeah, I’m never here so it stays in pretty nice condition.” Cas replied leading him up the stairs to the second floor.

“This is your house?”

“Yes.  John allowed me to build it on the stables property when I was primarily working here.  When I moved to working more at the equestrian center, I just stay with the workers.  I love coming home though; there is just something so relaxing about being here.”  Cas led him into a big bathroom.  Dark blue walls and everything matched it.  “You can shower in here.  I’ll get you some clean clothes.  I’ll throw yours in the washer so that way they will be dry by the time you are ready to head back to the cabins tonight.”

“Thanks.”

Cas nodded, staring at Dean.  He was undressing him in his mind.  After what felt like a few minutes, Cas left the room shutting the door behind him.  “Damn…”  He went into his bedroom and pulled out some clothes for Dean to wear.  They looked to be about the same size.  He hoped they were the same size. 

 

Cas returned to the bathroom about ten minutes later.  He knocked and then opened the door.  He was expecting Dean to still be in the shower, but instead he came face to face with Dean standing there with just a towel on.

“I’m sorry…I was just dropping you some clothes.”

Dean shook his head, “No…it’s fine.” He managed to get out. 

Cas stood there for a moment not able to move and not wanting to move.  “I’ll, I’ll be downstairs in the kitchen.” Cas backed out of the room shutting the door behind him.  _Well that was a nice thing to see in my bathroom_.  He smiled and headed downstairs into the kitchen.  He started to fix two sandwiches for himself and Dean.  Hopefully Dean would agree to stay and have lunch with him.

 

Dean stood there in the towel for at least another five minutes.  _He saw me naked!  Naked!_ He thought to himself.   _Well not totally naked, just partly naked._ He quickly dressed, hung up his towel and walked down into the kitchen.  

“Thanks for the clothes.”

“No problem.  Hungry?  It was just about lunch time before you got knocked over.  So I figured we could just grab a bite here.  I hope you like turkey sandwiches and chips.”

“Sounds good.”  Dean sat down across from Cas and they began to eat.  They chatted a bit over lunch.  Mostly about work.

“Thanks again for lunch.” Dean said walking over to the sink to put his plate in it.

“Anytime.” Cas replied.   _This is my shot._ He thought to himself standing up and standing behind Dean at the sink.

Dean turned around to Cas standing right in front of him.

Cas took a deep breath and leaned toward Dean. 

Dean wasn’t sure what possessed him but he didn’t move away or push Cas away.  He leaned into Cas’s lips.


	4. Chapter Four

Dean pulled back, and looked at Cas.

Cas opened his mouth to speak but Dean stopped him.

“Thanks for lunch.” He said walking in a quick pace out of the house.  Dean walked through the barn to the training track.  His heart was racing and his head was becoming jumbled full of different scenarios.   _I am not into guys._ He thought to himself.  _But Cas is amazing.  Breath Dean, just breath.  New beginnings remember._

“Dean!”  One of the ranch hands Mark yelled in his direction.

Dean spun around and saw them walking a horse in his direction. “Hey.”

“I see you got yourself cleaned up.” He chuckled. 

“Yeah, this fella thought it was pretty funny.” He smiled petting the horse.

“So the boss told us we could leave in an hour.  Since the first race is tomorrow there isn’t much more we can do today.  Mind if I catch a ride back to the cabins with you?”

“No biggie.  See you in an hour.” Dean waved walking back into the barn.  He saw Cas standing next to the delivery truck signing for something.  He looked up and for a brief second they connected through eye contact.  Dean turned away and went to check on the rest of the horses before leaving. 

Deans phone buzzed in his pocket and he walked through the barn checking on the horses food and water. 

“Sammy, hey.” He said into the phone.

“Dean, dad is driving me crazy, can you please talk to him?”

“And say what?  I’m just not ready to come back to LA yet.”

“What force caused you to uproot yourself?”

Dean swallowed and shook his head even though his brother couldn’t see.  “Nothing, I just need space, a change of scenery.  I just felt crowded there.”

“Dude, this is getting to the point of you losing your job.”

“Sam, I can bet they gave it away the day after I left.  That company didn’t give two shits about me.  Look, I have to run.”

“Was that a…donkey or something?” Sam asked hearing a loud noise in the background.

Dean smiled a bit. “No, it was a horse, I’m on a ranch, now Sammy, I love you but I have to go.”  He hung up before Sam could trap him into another conversation.

“Family troubles?” Cas asked walking up behind him.

Dean jumped and turned to face him .  “Uh, something like that.  Just worried I guess.”

“About earlier…that was…very out of character for me, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I, uh…I didn’t mean to bolt out like that.”

“Oh you were completely right to bolt.  I’m surprised you stopped at the barn, I would have gone as far as the tree line.” Cas smiled.

“I hear we get the rest of the afternoon off?”

“Yes.  I think everyone including the horses could use a good rest before tomorrow.  If you don’t want to go to the track tomorrow due to earlier, I understand.”

“No, I still want to go.  I’ve never done this before…the working on a ranch thing.  It’s interesting.”

Cas nodded, “Well I’ll see you bright and early in the morning.” He walked off toward the house.

Dean stared after him.  His heart was racing again, and all he could seem to do is smile.  He shook his head and headed to his car. 

Mark was standing by the car waiting for Dean.  “Thanks for the lift.”

“No problem.” 

 

Dean changed into a pair of sweat pants and took his shirt off.  He lay on the bed snacking on some pretzels while flipping through the television stations.  His mind went back to Cas and their kiss.  He grabbed his laptop and started doing some research online.  He looked up men kissing; same sex marriages, and finally he popped himself onto Facebook.  He hadn’t been online like this since he left LA.  He had about twenty messages, and tons of posts on his wall asking where he was.  “Seriously, can’t a man take a vacation without being harassed?” He asked aloud to himself.  Dean pulled up Cas’s profile.  He smiled as he scrolled through his pictures.  Most of them were of him on the ranch, some of him and what seemed like his siblings.   He closed the laptop when he heard a knock on the door. 

Dean unlocked the door and almost chocked on his pretzel.

“Sorry to just show up, but I forgot to give you back your clothes.”  Cas said holding out a pile of clothes that were clean and folded.

“Thanks.  Would you like to come in?” Dean offered not sure what else to say.

Cas nodded.

Dean set the clothes down on the bed and Cas sat at the table.  “Anything to drink, beer, water?”

“Beer please.”

Dean grabbed two beers and sat down with him.  “Thanks again for the clothes.  I’ll wash them and give them back.”

“No rush, they are just spares.  So how are you doing up here?  Everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s much better than the motels I’ve been crashing in.”

“Good.”  Cas played with his beer cap staring at it.  Finally he looked up at Dean.  His beautiful green eyes stared back.  “So this may be completely out in left field, or whatever, but do you want to go out for dinner one night?”

Dean was taken back.  _Dinner…isn’t that a date?_  “Dinner…”

“Yeah, I told you it was out in left field…no big deal, was just asking…”

“Dinner sounds awesome.  But only under one condition.”  He smiled.  “I drive.  I’ve seen you’re driving, it’s a bit scary.”

Cas laughed, “Deal.” 

“Well thanks for the beer, but I’ve got to get back home.  Early morning for us tomorrow.” He swallowed the last of his drink, said goodbye again and left.

Cas couldn’t stop smiling.  His phone rang loudly in his pocket.  “Hey sis.” He said getting into his truck.

“Cas, why haven’t you called us?  It’s been days.”

“Sorry Kate, I didn’t realize that I had to check in daily.”

“Well you do.  When are you coming home to visit?”

Cas sighed, “I don’t know yet.  It’s race time right now so I’m kind of stuck here, plus well you know.”

“What’s his name?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Cas, I know that tone, you met someone, spill it.”

“Alright but you can’t tell anyone.  His name is Dean, and I’m not even sure he’s my type.”

Kate laughed on the other end. “So you aren’t even sure he’s gay?”

“Well no…I kissed him, and asked him out.  And I kind of saw him half naked.”  Cas said walking into his house and putting his keys in the tray.

“You have been busy.  Did he kiss you back?”

“Well I guess.”

“Okay, and did he agree to go out with you?”

“Yes.”

“Well you are two for two.  So go get him cowboy.” She smiled.

“Funny.  I have to go.  Have an early morning at the track tomorrow.  Tell everyone I said hi and I love them, okay?”

“I will, and Cas, please call more.”

 

The first track day was a little much for Dean but he managed to get through it.  It was busy, hot, sticky and full of either really loud people or really drunk people.  The day passed rather quickly for Dean which made him more nervous about his upcoming dinner with Cas. 

Dean just finished putting on his third shirt, he had settled on a dark blue long sleeve shirt.  He took a deep breath and walked to the door.

“Sammy…” he stuttered out.

“Took me a while, but I was able to track you down.  Glad to see you are still in one piece.”

“I told you I was fine.” Dean was still in shock.

“Yeah I know your  ‘I’m fine’ speech.  So are you going to invite me in or should I stand outside all night?”

Dean moved out of the way for Sam to enter shutting the door behind him.  “Look, Sam, as happy as I am to see you, and as surprised, tonight is not the best night…I have a dinner to go to.”

“Well I’ll just hang out here, if that’s alright.  Afterwards, we can talk.”

Dean sighed.  “Alright, but please, just don’t go getting lost.  I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” He grabbed his car keys, wallet and phone and walked outside.  The air was becoming more brisk, but still warm.  He paced around outside for a few minutes before Cas pulled up in his truck.

“Hey.” Cas said looking at the extra car next to Deans. “Ready to go?”

“Yep.” Dean got into the Impala and drove following Cas’s directions into town.  There was a small restaurant that Cas said has amazing Italian.  They got a table in the back.

“So I hate to be forward, but did you have company over?” Cas asked looking over his menu.

“Sorta.  My brother showed up.”

Cas put the menu down and looked at Dean.  “Your brother?”

“Yeah, I guess the whole ‘I’m fine’ on repeat didn’t fly well with him.  So he showed up to make sure I was actually okay.”

“We could have rescheduled…”

“Are you kidding?  Miss out on our first dinner, nope.  Besides, Sammy can handle being alone. “

“Good, might have broken my heart if you cancelled.” He smiled looking back at his menu.

Dean smiled and looked down at his own menu.

 

Dean laughed, taking a drink of his beer.  “LA is a mess, like every day, all the time.  It’s really different than being around here.  At least here you can make it to point A to point B in a reasonable amount of time.  In LA you have to leave for work an hour early if you want to be on time.”

“I would never leave an hour early for work.” Cas laughed. 

They paid and walked back out to Dean’s car.  As Dean drove home it was pretty silent.

Cas considered bringing up the kiss, but he couldn’t put the words together correctly.  Every sentence he came up with just sounded stupid. 

Dean pulled up to the cabins and shut the engine off. 

“Alright Dean, we’ve made it through an entire dinner without me asking this, but I can’t hold off any longer.”

Dean held his breath waiting for a bomb to hit.

“What are your thoughts on that kiss?”

He thought back to the kiss, the way his lips felt on his.  The smell of horse and deodorant.  Dean just sat there staring.    He leaned over to Cas and placed his lips against Cas’s.  After a second he pulled away.  “I think that it was nice.”

Cas pulled him close and kissed him again, pulling back after a few more seconds.  “Good me too.  Why don’t you take the day off tomorrow, show your brother around.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, well I’m sure you both need to talk.”

Dean nodded, “Thank you.”  He leaned in and kissed Cas again.  It felt so right to him.  Everything just felt like it fit perfectly.

They got out of the car, exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways.

“Well that seemed more like a date…” Sam said walking up to Dean before he went inside.

“Where did you come from?”

“I was taking a walk…it is nice outside.  So is this a mid-life crisis thing?  Run away to the middle of nowhere, work with horses, and make out with some dude?” Sam asked walking inside after Dean.

“No Sam, it’s just…it’s me okay?  This is what I want.  It feels comfortable, I know it seems strange and out there, but it just feels right.”

“You know dad will flip?”

“Do NOT tell him.  Sammy promise me that you won’t say a damn word to him!”

Sam held up his hands, “Alright, relax.  Why don’t we talk tomorrow after you get off work?”

“I have the day off.  We’ll talk whenever.”

“Fine.  I’ll crash on the couch.”

“Night.”  Dean shut the lights off, got into bed and closed his eyes.  He thought of Cas and the kissing.  _No going back now.  Tomorrow I'll tell Sammy everything, hopefully he doesn't up and leave me for it._ He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  He was nervous about his future, for once, he had no idea where it was going or what would happen.  

 

 


	5. Chapter Five

“You just did it all wrong Dean…”

 

“Yeah, okay, I admit, I probably should have put a little more thought into it, but if it wasn’t a rash decision, it wouldn’t have happened.  I needed this to happen.”

Sam walked around the room; he stopped in front of his brother who sat on the couch.  “Are you into guys now?”

 

Dean looked up at his brother.  Their eyes met and he didn’t say a word.

 

Sam nodded, “I’m not sure what to do with this information.”

 

“Right now, nothing.  How about I show you around the ranch?  Maybe you’ll like it.”

 

“Dude, horses, they smell.”

 

“Thanks captain obvious.  Let’s just go.”

 

Dean drove them down to the ranch and parked his car next to Cas’s truck.

 

“So you work down here?” Sam asked as they walked through the barn.

 

“Yeah.  I do enjoy it.  It’s kind of relaxing.”  They came out of the barn to the training area.  There were a couple men watching a girl ride the horse.

 

“Conducting a tour?” Cas asked walking up to Dean and Sam.

 

Dean turned facing Cas.  Their eyes locked and lust filled his mind. He snapped out of his trans.  “Yes.  Cas this is my brother Sam.  Sam this is my boss Cas.”

 

“Making out with your boss…gee, so original.” Sam said feeling a bit over protective and ambushed.

Dean punched Sam in the arm. “Sam!”

“So do you always make out with your employees?”

“Sam! Stop.” Dean pushed him away from Cas. “Let’s go.” He looked back and mouthed  _I’m sorry._

Cas nodded.  “I must be crazy…” he muttered to himself.  He stood there for a few minutes trying to process everything.

 

“What the hell Sammy?” Dean yelled when they reached the car.

 

“Dean you can’t be serious about this…it’s just…it’s not you.”

 

“Sam, this may be hard for you to believe but I am not the same person I was in LA.  Can you handle that or not?  If not, have a safe trip home.”

 

 

“Hey!” Cas jogged over to them. “I may be completely nuts, but would you both like to join me for dinner tonight?”

 

Sam looked at him like he was from another planet.   _Is this guy for real? Does he not give up?_

 

“That would be great.  Thank you.” Dean accepted.

 

“How’s six?  The crew has off tomorrow so it’s like a weekend night.”  Cas told them. 

“Six works, want me to bring anything?”

 

“No, just yourselves.” He smiled and walked back to the training ring. 

 

“You are both insane right?” Sam questioned.

 

“No, but Sammy, I love you.  You are my little brother and you mean everything to me.  I may not know exactly what I want, but I’m trying to figure it out, okay?”

 

Sam sighed, his brother meant a lot to him too, and the least he could do is give him the benefit of the doubt.  “Okay, one dinner.  Better be worth it.”

 

Dean nodded and drove them into town.  They went to a small diner right off the main road.

 

“So how is dad?”

 

“He’s good, pissed to hell at you though.”

 

“I bet, and how’s Jess?”

 

Sam changed his position in his seat.  “Good.  So how did you come across this gig?”

 

Dean titled his head to the side. “Wow, don’t like talking about the wife anymore?” 

 

“I told you she was good.”

 

“Yeah, your response was short and cold.  What’s going on?”

 

Sam dropped his hands onto the table. “Jess and I separated…”

 

Dean didn’t allow himself to show how upsetting this was to hear. “What happened?  You two were like perfectly happy.”

 

“No one is that happy.  It was just a lot.  We got married while we were still in school, and all the moving we’ve done, plus Jess wants kids right away.  I’m just not ready to be responsible for children yet.  I want to travel and work some before that happens.  So we decided to just separate.  Jess is filing for divorce this week.”

 

“So does your unwelcoming, crappy attitude have something to do with that?”

 

“Maybe, I haven’t exactly told dad yet either…”

 

Dean laughed.

 

“What is so funny?”  


“Just that we are more alike than anything else.  I’ll keep your secret, you keep mine.”

 

Sam nodded, “Deal.  Tell me more about Cas…and this whole…everything.”

 

“I don’t know what it is Sammy, I just, I feel this strange connection to him.  Like the first time I met him, I almost covered him in food.  I’ve never even thought of another guy before now.”

 

“So this is like Lisa?”

 

“Yes, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that I always kind of knew or suspected it.  Either way, it’s like a whole new beginning here.”

 

“And you are done with the ad agency?”

 

“Dude those guys were a crock of shit anyways.  They were all stuck up and only cared about their expensive cars and meals.  Clearly I didn’t fit in.  I drove the Impala to work daily.”

 

“So you two aren’t going to like, make out tonight during dinner right?”

Dean laughed, “No, we won’t.”

 

 

Cas dialed Kate’s number.  Out of all his siblings, Kate was the one he was closest to.  They were close in age and always had more of a sibling connection.

 

“Ah, he does know how to use a phone!” She said answering his call.

 

“Well hello to you too sister.”

 

“How did your date go?”

 

“Great.”

 

“So he’s gay then?”

 

“Well we kissed a few times, so yeah, I assume so.  His brother doesn’t seem happy about it though.”

 

“You met his family already?!  When do we get to meet him?”

 

“Relax.  His brother just showed up, wasn’t planned.”

 

“Well still, we want to meet him.  Why don’t you bring him home next weekend.”

 

Cas laughed, “Into the crazies? I don’t think so.”

 

“We aren’t crazy.”

 

“Yes, yes we all are.  We have the weirdest conversations and we fight.”

 

“Everyone fights, get over it.”

 

“Let’s just see how it goes between now and then.”

 

“Okay, well keep us posted.”

 

Cas ended the call.  It felt nice to talk to someone and tell them.  He was just about to put his phone back in his pocket when it rang again.

 

“Hello?  Oh hey.” His smiled faded quickly.  “Yeah, I’ll be there in an hour.”  Cas hung up, put one of the guys in charge and left.

 

Dean and Sam hung out the rest of the afternoon.  They talked, walked around.  It was almost six when they headed down to the ranch.

 

“Please at least try to be nice.” Dean said to Sam.

 

“Promise.”

 

Dean knocked on the door. 

 

“It’s open!” Cas yelled from inside.  His stomach was turning.  He was feeling a bit nervous.

 

Dean led Sam into the house and back to the kitchen. 

 

“You sure know your way around.” Sam whispered.

 

Dean gave him a  _Shut the hell up_ look.

 

“Glad you guys could make it.” Cas smiled.  “Dinner is just about done.”

 

“Need any help?” Dean offered. 

 

“No.  There are beers in the fridge though, help yourself.”

 

Dean nodded, getting three beers out handing one to Sam and one to Cas. 

 

They all sat around the table, Cas had made steaks, potatoes and corn.

 

“Cas, do you like working on the ranch?” Sam asked.

 

“Yes.  It’s something I’ve always done.  I enjoy being outside.  What do you do for a living?”

 

“Financial advisor.  I was studying to become a lawyer, but some things in life changed my course.”

 

Cas nodded, “But you still would like to do that?”

 

“Yeah, the law is amazing.”

 

“Have you thought of taking night classes?”

 

“Yes, I just haven’t pursued it much.”

 

Cas nodded.

 

They ate in just about silence for the next twenty or so minutes.  Only exchanging a few words here and there.

 

“We can go into the living room and enjoy another beer, or something.” Cas suggested. 

“Sounds good.” Dean said, they all piled into the living room. 

 

Sam didn’t even sit down before his cell rang. “Sorry, I have to take this.”  He walked back into the kitchen, “Yes?  Jess, I can’t be there tomorrow.  No, no, I’m out of town.” He sighed and rubbed his head. “I’m visiting Dean.  No he’s not in LA, he’s out of town.  No, look tomorrow I’ll go find a fax machine, and you can fax them to me, and I’ll fax the papers back.  Yeah, sure.  Okay, bye.”  He hung up and stared at his phone.  Casually he entered the living room again to where Dean and Cas were full in a conversation about the track.

 

“Everything alright?” Dean asked looking at Sam’s face.

 

“Yeah, fine.  It was Jess.  She just wanted me to sign some papers tomorrow.  So I guess I’ll be on a quest to find a fax.”

 

“Don’t worry about it, we have one at the ranch you can use.”  Cas informed him.

“You don’t have to do that.”

 

“It’s no trouble.  Besides, the closest place that would have a fax machine that you can use is about thirty to forty miles away.  Ours is here.” He quickly got up and scribbled down a number handing the paper to Sam.  “That’s the number; just tell her to fax the papers there.  I’ll have Gloria grab them and put them in my box.”

 

“Thanks.” Sam smiled and took a seat next to Dean.

 

“So I assume you both have to actually get back to work tomorrow, huh?” Sam questioned.

 

“Yeah, but you are welcome to crash at my place for as long as you need.” Dean offered.

 

Cas smiled to himself, “You know Sam, I’ve been going around and around with these finances we have, I was wondering, if you have some time maybe you could take a look at them?”

 

“Sure, no problem.”

 

They sat and talked for a bit longer before Dean finally decided that he had put Sam through enough and they should head back.

 

“Thanks Cas for dinner, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sam said shaking his hand.

“Anytime.”

 

Sam looked at Dean, “I’ll be in the car.” Giving his brother some privacy he walked out the front door.

 

“Your brother isn’t so bad Dean, you should be more willing to trust him.” Cas smiled.

Dean smiled back, “Yeah I’m starting to see that he’s not just the little kid I need to protect, but a man, and sometimes a damn good one.”

 

Cas nodded, “I will see you guys tomorrow morning.  It was great having you both over.”  He leaned in and kissed Dean.  It was just as great as before, and it felt right.

 

Dean pulled back after a minute and smiled again, “Thank you.” He walked out the front door to the car and drove in silence back to the cabin.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! Still needs editing and things like that. More chapters to come! :)


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